Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 1,862 Shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its stake in shares of Valaris Limited (NYSE:VAL) by 1.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 185,960 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,862 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.26% of Valaris worth $13,854,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VAL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Valaris during the fourth quarter worth $43,282,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Valaris by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 789,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,160,000 after buying an additional 202,074 shares in the last quarter. Condire Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Valaris by 14.7% during the first quarter. Condire Management LP now owns 1,452,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,285,000 after buying an additional 186,076 shares in the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Valaris by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 626,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,931,000 after buying an additional 151,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kent Lake Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valaris during the first quarter worth $11,289,000. 96.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Valaris in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays dropped their price target on Valaris from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com raised Valaris to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners downgraded Valaris from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.80.

Valaris Price Performance

NYSE VAL traded up $2.61 during trading on Friday, hitting $63.20. 932,096 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 955,505. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a PE ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 1.21. Valaris Limited has a fifty-two week low of $60.06 and a fifty-two week high of $84.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $71.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.83.

Valaris (NYSE:VAL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $1.07. The firm had revenue of $610.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $545.00 million. Valaris had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 49.33%. Research analysts expect that Valaris Limited will post 4.37 EPS for the current year.

Valaris Company Profile

Valaris Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides offshore contract drilling services Gulf of Mexico, South America, North Sea, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through four segments: Floaters, Jackups, ARO, and Other. It owns an offshore drilling rig fleet, which include drillships, dynamically positioned semisubmersible rigs, moored semisubmersible rig, and jackup rigs.